Battle of the Bulge (1965)

A dramatization of Nazi Germany's final Western Front counterattack of World War II.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Philip Yordan, Milton Sperling

Stars:

Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Henry Fonda	...	Lt. Col. Dan Kiley
Robert Shaw	...	Col. Hessler
Robert Ryan	...	Gen. Grey
Dana Andrews	...	Col. Pritchard
George Montgomery	...	Sgt. Duquesne
Ty Hardin	...	Lt. Schumacher
Pier Angeli	...	Louise
Barbara Werle	...	Elena
Charles Bronson	...	Wolenski
Hans Christian Blech	...	Conrad
Werner Peters	...	Gen. Kohler
James MacArthur	...	Lt. Weaver
Karl-Otto Alberty	...	Von Diepel (as Karl Otto Alberty)
Telly Savalas	...	Sgt. Guffy
Steve Rowland	...	Eddy

Storyline

In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent this occurrence, Hitler orders an all out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp. "The Battle of the Bulge" shows this conflict from the perspective of an American intelligence officer as well as from a German Panzer Commander.

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Plot Keywords:

battle of the bulge | world war two in belgium | cold weather | wehrmacht | panzer | 

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Taglines:

Out of the terrifying darkness they come...grinding, crashing, roaring...the awesome Tiger Tanks...Like monsters from another planet!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

19 January 1966 (France)

Also Known As:

Battle of the Bulge

Filming Locations:

Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,118,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

United States Pictures, Cinerama Productions Corp.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some scenes were filmed on the crumbling sets of Samuel Bronston's The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964).

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Goofs

When Colonel Hessler has his wine glass filled up by Conrad, whom he asks to sit down and join him in a glass of wine, the Colonel's glass is empty when Conrad sits down, although it had just been filled up in the previous shot.

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Quotes

Cpl. Conrad: The truth... is that I'm a fool. I believed in you, but all that you believe in, is the war. You have the war, you like the war. And all I have are my sons and I don't want to lose them.
Col. Martin Hessler: I am not responsible for your children.
Cpl. Conrad: You are. You would make them soldiers.
Col. Martin Hessler: Yes, and they will fight.
Cpl. Conrad: And they will die?
Col. Martin Hessler: If necessary.
Cpl. Conrad: Necessary for who? For you?
Col. Martin Hessler: You are not only a fool, you are a traitor.
Cpl. Conrad: And you are a murderer! You would murder my sons. You would murder my country. You would murder the ...

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Alternate Versions

The film was originally screened at about 170 minutes. When it was initially released on North American home video in the 1980s, it was trimmed to a mere 141 minutes. Most of the cuts involved was seen as "unnecessary" battle footage, such as when Guffy's tanks arrive in the first major battle scene to back up Major Wolenski's battalion and, later, portions of the German day attack on Ambleve are missing, among other scenes. The 1990 video and subsequent home video and laserdisc releases run 156 minutes (in order to market the film on a T-160 videotape) and restore the original Overture, Intermission and Exit Music. Four key scenes are still missing:

• 1. Colonel Hessler and General Kohler meet Schumacher's paratroop contingent just after they leave Kohler's office.
• 2. After Kohler shows Hessler the colossal war room, Hessler goes outside and inspects his tanks.
• 3. After Pritchard tells Kiley he is being transferred to the United States, Kiley and Maj. Wolenski discuss what should be done with Germany after the war.
• 4. The most famous missing scene occurs right after the nuns ask Hessler for aid in Ambleve. It has a young French boy attempt to assassinate Hessler. Hessler allows the boy to live, but has his father shot instead. Immediately after this scene, Major Wolenski has a meeting with Hessler in which he confronts him about the Malmedy Massacre.

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Connections

Referenced in Charlie Rose: Quentin Tarantino 2003 (2003)

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Soundtracks

Der Panzerlied
(uncredited)
Written by Kurt Wiehle

User Reviews

a lot of reorganizing history but still compelling war movie

It's December 1944. The Allies troops are confident to finish the war quickly. The Germans plan a major offensive to retake Antwerp. Former cop Lt. Col. Kiley (Henry Fonda) tries to warn his superiors about an imminent attack against the thin worn American lines but Gen. Grey and Col. Pritchard dismiss his concerns. Sgt. Guffy (Telly Savalas) is a tank commander who is more concerned with wheeling and dealing. Maj. Wolenski (Charles Bronson) commands a frontline position.

The start is mostly Henry Fonda investigating the planned attack with a good side story of German Col. Hessler being put in command of the Tiger tanks. The tanks are obviously wrong but I understand the difficulties. There are a lot of rewriting of history in this movie. Henry Fonda being at every important place gets way too coincidental. Essentially, a massive battle in the war is boiled down to an one-man crusade. The fuel depot fight looks silly compared to the other parts of the movie. Nevertheless this is a compelling old-fashion big-action war movie. The tank battles looks pretty good.